Democrats abandon proposed assault weapons ban

With the US Senate set to mull new gun legislation this April, a proposed ban on assault weapons will no longer be up for debate, the proposal's sponsors say. As a result, the ban is almost surely off the table for inclusion in a new law.

California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, who promoted the ban, told
the press that Nevada's Harry Reid made the concession with a view
to avoiding Republican sabotage. Leaving out the assault weapons
ban, she reasoned, would prevent the debate on gun control from
being blocked by Republicans before it even began.

"I very much regret it," Feinstein, who wrote the 1994
assault weapons ban that expired ten years later, said of the
decision. "I tried my best."

Instead of debating a ban on military-style weapons up front,
Feinstein will propose the measure as an amendment once legislation
is in order. The ban could be on thin ice as it faces near-certain
rejection from Republicans across the board as well as some
Democrats.

A ban would need 60 votes to even be in the running for
legislative action.

The Senate is home to 53 Democrats, as well as two independents
who can be relied upon to vote to the left. But even "Using the
most optimistic numbers," Reid said, the ban would receive
fewer than 40 votes.

"I'm not going to try to put something on the floor that
won't succeed. I want something that will succeed. I think the
worst of all worlds would be to bring to something to the floor and
it dies there," Reid said.

In order to get support, Feinstein says, the Senate will first
vote on assault weapons in general - including a ban on magazines
that hold more than 10 rounds. After that, a vote on high-capacity
magazines would be taken to the floor.

A discussion on banning military-style weapons for civilian
purchase in the US started up after years of dormancy following the
December 2012 massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in
Connecticut. In January US President Barack Obama publicly
commented on such a ban in response to the Sandy Hook
attack.

Restricting gun ownership and use is a majorly controversial
issue in the US, where many believe the country's constitution
provides full protection of gun ownership, no matter what the
style, under the law.

However, the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved four gun
control measures in March 2013 alone, including the ban on assault
weapons and high-capacity magazines. The other two would see the
expansion of federal background checks on individuals purchasing
weapons, make punishments for illegal weapons trafficking more
severe and up funding for school safety.